How to teach tackling from scratch
The tackle arrives at U9 and it's the part of the job most volunteers dread, usually because nobody ever taught them either. It goes in five steps over about six weeks, starting with two children on their knees.
Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.
Before anybody tackles anybody
U9 is the first grade with a tackle in it. Nobody competes for the ball once it's on the floor, so the only thing you're teaching this season is how to take somebody down safely and how to go down safely. That's plenty.
- Pair them by size, never by age. The biggest child in an U9 squad can be twice the weight of the smallest
- Soft grass only. If the pitch is frozen or baked hard, do something else that day
- Contact below the base of the sternum. Tummy or below. That line does not move at any grade in minis
- Little and often beats one long session. Ten good minutes early on, while they're fresh, rather than half an hour at the end
- Stop it the moment technique goes. Tired children put their heads in the wrong place
Read the U9 rules guide alongside this. It says what a tackle is allowed to be at that grade, which is narrower than what the parents on the touchline will be expecting.
The order to teach it in
Six weeks, roughly. Do not skip a step because the session looked easy. The step everybody skips is the first one.
One: get them used to falling over
Wrestling games on the grass, knees down, nobody holding a ball. Pull a partner over a line. Sit back to back and get up together. Half the squad has never had anybody's arms round them. The other half has, at home, which is worse, because they think that's what a tackle is. Neither is ready for technique yet.
Two: on their knees, no running at all
Pairs kneeling a metre apart. The tackler puts their head to the side of the carrier's hip, wraps both arms round the legs, squeezes then they roll over together. Ten each side before anybody stands up. This is the session that decides whether the head goes in the right place for the rest of their life.
- Cheek to cheek, 12 minutes
Three: from a crouch, carrier walking
Same tackle, tackler now in a crouch with knees bent, carrier walking past at arm's length. The new thing is footwork. Small steps in, leading foot close to the carrier, leading shoulder following it.
Four: side on at a jog
The carrier jogs a straight line and the tackler comes from the side. Side on first because the geometry is kinder: the head has an obvious place to go and nobody is running at anybody. Only move on once the head is right every single time rather than most times.
- Side on tackle, 11 minutes
- Track them down, 10 minutes
Five: get up and do it again
A tackle nobody gets up from is half a skill. The tackler releases, gets to their feet and is ready before the next carrier arrives. Front on work belongs here too, once side on is honest, though at U9 there's still nobody competing for the ball on the floor.
- Tackle and get up, 10 minutes
- Front on tackle, 12 minutes
The five parts of a tackle
World Rugby's Tackle Ready breaks the tackle into five stages. It's written for every level from a nine year old to a professional, so it's worth knowing the words even if you only ever use the first three.
| Stage | What it means at training |
|---|---|
| Tracking | Running at the carrier's inside shoulder rather than at where they are now |
| Preparation | Knees bent, chin off the chest, eyes on the target, feet still moving |
| Connection | Shoulder into the tummy or the thigh, head to the side, both arms round |
| Acceleration | Legs keep driving through the contact rather than stopping at it |
| Finish | Land on top or beside, release, get up, ready for the next one |
At U9 you're working on the middle three. Tracking is the one that takes longest, because it's a decision rather than a body position, so it keeps improving right through U12.
What to say
Pick three of these and use the same three all session. A child who hears seven cues hears none of them.
- Head to the side, cheek on their back pocket
- Eyes open all the way in
- Chin off your chest
- Small quick steps, don't lunge
- Both arms round then squeeze. A tackle is a hug
- Keep your legs going after you hit
- Up on your feet straight away
What going wrong looks like
| What you see | What to say |
|---|---|
| Head going in front of the carrier | Stop the drill. Ear to their back pocket before you wrap |
| Arms pushing rather than gripping | Lock your hands together behind their legs |
| Diving in from a metre away | Get close enough to touch them first |
| Standing up straight on the way in | Bend your knees, not your back |
| Eyes shut at the moment of contact | Watch the target the whole way. Eyes open |
| Tackling then lying there | Straight back up, you're in the game |
The carrier's half of it
Half the squad is being tackled at any moment, so coach that too. A carrier who knows how to go to ground gets hurt less than one who doesn't, which is worth more than any tackle technique you'll teach.
- Fall on your side, not your front. Twist as you go so the shoulder lands first
- Long arms with the ball. Place it back towards your own team, as far from your body as you can reach
- Never dip your shoulders below your hips going into contact, which is a penalty as well as a danger
- Get up quickly. At U10 the ball is live again the moment you've placed it
- Squeezeball is banned at every grade and no coach may teach it, anywhere
- Long placement, 10 minutes
- Turn the turtle, 8 minutes
How it changes as they go up
| Grade | What's new | What to work on |
|---|---|---|
| U9 | The tackle arrives. Nobody competes for the ball once it's down | Head position, the wrap, getting up |
| U10 | An opponent may grab the ball if the carrier is still up. Ruck and maul arrive | Tackle then compete, front on work, the offside line |
| U11 | The contest at the breakdown doubles to two against two | Two players arriving together, tackling when tired |
| U12 | Tackling stays as it was. The hand off below the armpits arrives | Holding a carrier up, choosing which tackle to make |
- Two tackle shuttle, 10 minutes
- Double tackle, 11 minutes
Common questions
One of them is frightened of contact. What do I do?
Put them back a step rather than out of the session. Kneeling work with a partner they like, no ball, nobody watching. Most of it is fear of the unknown and it goes after three or four weeks of small successes. If it doesn't, they can play the rest of the session and nobody should make a thing of it.
Can we use tackle bags and shields?
For shape, yes. Keep it brief. A bag doesn't move, doesn't step and doesn't fall over, so a squad that only ever tackles bags gets a shock in a match. Use one to practise the shoulder and the wrap, then get back to a person walking.
How do I pair them up when the sizes are all over the place?
By weight rather than by name or age. Redo it every few weeks because they grow at different rates. If a pairing looks uneven to you on the touchline, it is uneven. Three groups by size is usually enough for a minis squad.
What do I do if somebody takes a bang to the head?
They come off and they stay off. The RFU's Headcase guidance is the one piece of reading every minis coach should do before the season starts. If in doubt, sit them out. No child goes back on the same day after a suspected concussion.
Do I need a qualification to coach tackling?
Your club will want you on an RFU coaching course and it's worth doing, though the bigger reason is that a couple of hours with somebody who packs down every week will teach you more about the first two sessions than any page will.
The rules on this page are Regulation 15 and they are the RFU's. How to teach it is ours, written from the RFU's age grade coaching material and World Rugby's Tackle Ready, then tried at training. A club coach who has done this for ten years will have a better order than ours for some of it. Take theirs.
Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.
The RFU's own U9 rules of play · Their contact training guidance · Headcase, on concussion
The drills that go with it
What U9 is allowed to do is the rules side of this, which is where every number on this page comes from.